I'm still constantly baffled by just how absolutely beyond shit modern computers are
@OpenComputeDesign x86 was a mistake? :)
@OpenComputeDesign
16 bit was a mistake?
transistors were a mistake?
how modern are we talking? :)

@kabel42 @OpenComputeDesign

16-bit/early-32-bit was my favorite era. (Basically, the #68k era ;)

Computers were just becoming capable, but not too big for their britches.

@rl_dane @kabel42

Yeah, tbh, we really should have stopped at 32-bit

@OpenComputeDesign @rl_dane I had a good time with my first amd athlon 64 but sure, simpler times :)

@kabel42 @OpenComputeDesign

I think computers were honestly better when they were limited to absolutely no more than 1GB RAM, no more than 256 colors, and no more than 1024x768 screen resolution.

1GB RAM: no LLMs
256 colors: no horrid low-contrast soupy interfaces
XGA Resolution: no horrid empty spaces and bloated interfaces

I keep wanting to make that as an OS 😄

(If only I had the skillz)

@rl_dane @kabel42

Yeah, older GUIs were _so much better_ it's actually impressive just how fast and how hard GUI design has fallen off a cliff

@OpenComputeDesign @kabel42

Yeah, and the pushback I get from statements like that is insane to me.

"But we don't want to go back to Windows 95."

I don't either, it was a crap OS, but the interface was better than the crap interfaces they're shipping today, so ?!?!????!?

@rl_dane

I'd rather w95 with its software suite and interface than w11 with its.

W11 is a worse OS than w95 was.

@OpenComputeDesign @kabel42

@pixx @OpenComputeDesign @kabel42

It does have memory protection, though. That was Windows 95's most glaring weakness.

Edit: I meant to say that it doesn't. derp.
Edit2: No, I was saying that W11 has memory protection. lol

@rl_dane @pixx @kabel42

Modern software still absolutely _sucks_ with anything to do with memory. Any claims modern OS's make are, at best, just giving people a false sense of security.

@OpenComputeDesign @pixx @kabel42

Brofam, Windows 95 used to crash on me daily.

Linux? Basically never.

FreeBSD? Maaaaybe once a week.

@rl_dane @OpenComputeDesign @pixx i had to reinstall win95 about as ofthen as i reboot linux :)

@kabel42 @rl_dane @pixx

Have to reinstall linux at least once a season :P

@OpenComputeDesign @kabel42 @pixx

I have linux installs last me years. Except for Arch-based. :P
Also had bad luck with Solus, but I only tried it once.

@rl_dane @kabel42 @pixx

Well, the problem is, even if you have an install that lasts a few years, you'll still have to reinstall once the mirrors for your version shut down.

@OpenComputeDesign

Only with a badly desifned os.

Never had thst problem with gentoo

@rl_dane @kabel42

@pixx @rl_dane @kabel42

It's fairly intrinsically tied to the dependency hell nature of Unix, though

@OpenComputeDesign
No.

As long as your package manager can run, you're fine.

Generally, upgrading glibc will not break anything. The package managsr should still work after swappikg it out.

So it can then swapn out everything else in reverse dependency order so everything else keeps working along the way.

I've upgraded gentoo, alpine, debian, arch, and various others that were *years* out of date with no problems whatsoever. For some of those it was a bit abnoying and took multiple steps, but I've qlso ignored instructions for eg debian and been fine jumping multiple releases

@rl_dane @kabel42

@pixx @rl_dane @kabel42

Hard disagree. Once the repos for your version are down, especially in the BSDs it seems, upgrading becomes, if it's possible at all, a complete nightmare with a huge chance of failure. Although, upgrading always has about a 75% chance of failure anyway. And even when it does work, you'll often be stuck with weird glitches like multiple volume controls on the taskbar, and stuff like that. Upgrading in the unixes/linuxes absolutely sucks

@OpenComputeDesign
Haven't tried the bsds long enough to know, linux is better about it for sure though..

@rl_dane @kabel42